The South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce (SOCC) believes the time has come for talks to resume between the provincial Liberal government and Parks Canada in relation to establishing a national park in the South Okanagan.
“We are not taking a position and we are not being political, but we do believe that both sides should return to the negotiating table and commence talking,” said Holly Plante, president of the SOCC. “This is too important an issue for our membership and too important an issue for this region to simply forget about it.”
After almost a decade of discussions between the provincial government and Parks Canada, Liberal Environment Minister Terry Lake announced in January of 2012 that the province was breaking off talks with Parks Canada about establishing a national park in the South Okanagan.
Without getting into any significant detail, Lake said opposition to the park was strong and his government could no longer support the concept of a national park in this region.
After a great deal of public and media pressure, the Liberals finally released a feasibility study on the proposed South Okanagan national park last fall, which clearly indicated the majority of the public supported the concept of a national park.
However, this hasn’t changed the government’s mind and there has been no indication by Premier Christy Clark or her government to resume discussions about a South Okanagan national park over the past several months.
The SOCC presented a formal motion at the recent B.C. Chamber of Commerce annual general meeting in Nanaimo asking the provincial government to resume talks with the federal government and Parks Canada.
After some strong opposition by members of the Penticton Chamber of Commerce, the motion was defeated as it needed 67 per cent approval by the delegates at the convention, said Plante.
“The position of our chamber is that a lot of time and money has been spent on this issue and that talks should at least resume to see what the status of the national park is from the senior levels of government,” said Plante. “We believe we owe it to our members, most who are in support of a national park, to encourage the provincial government to re-engage in talks with the federal government.”
Jason Cox, the president of the Penticton Chamber of Commerce, argued strongly against the SOCC’s motion, said Plante.
“While we have always enjoyed a very good relationship with the Penticton chamber and will continue to do so in the future, the reality is many of their key members are against the national park,” she said. “They would not support our motion and it turned into quite the debate, but that hasn’t changed the fact that members from our chamber still believe talks on the national park must resume.”
With Clark’s government winning a recent majority following the May 14 provincial election, it makes sense for the provincial government to take another look at the national park debate after months of silence, said Plante.
The Liberals should realize the majority of residents who live in the South Okanagan remain in favour of  a national park and it would be in the party’s best interests to resume talks with the federal government and Parks Canada to determine if any kind of progress can be made about this important issue, said Plante.
“As I mentioned, we’re not asking anyone to make any declarations … we just want them to talk again,” she said.
“This national park issue affects too many people for the government to pretend the issue is just going to go away. It’s time to sit down and talk to each other.”